Arrow Hat

Arrow Hat

Once again, I bought this yarn because it was on sale, and once again, I'm thrilled with my decision! Not only does this yarn knit up nicely, and with a good drape-y texture, after all, but it also doesn't chafe the fingers despite being all animal fibers. Furthermore, there's enough on the skein for a good project, so much so that I totally wasn't even close to running out by the end of this hat. Huzzah!

Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca Tonal (50% Alpaca, 50% Wool; 215 yards [198 meters]/100 grams); #6321 (purple) - one skein

Needles: One 16" circular needle in size 8 (go to a size 7 if you want a tighter band), one 16" circular needle in size 10, and one set of double pointed needles (dpns) in size 10

The pattern

Notions: Tapestry needle, stitch marker or yarn scrap to mark end of round 

Gauge: 20 stitches = 4 inches on size 8 needles

So let's get started! Using the size 8 (or 7) circular needle, cast on 108 stitches loosely, place marker, and join in round. Next, knit in a k1, p1 ribbing for 1 inch, then switch to your size 10 circular needle and we'll move on to the main pattern, which is an adaptation of Arrow Pattern from page 273 of Barbara G. Walker's A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns (I added a stitch, and rewrote it for the round). Anyway, it goes as follows:

Row 1 (and all other odd rows): knit

Row 2: * yo, ssk, k3, k2tog, yo, k2 *

Row 4: * k1, yo, ssk, k1, k2tog, yo, k3 *

Row 6: * k2, yo, sl1-k2tog-psso, yo, k2, p2 *

Rows 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16: * ssk, (k1, yo) twice, k1, k2tog, p2 *

Knit rows 1 - 16 twice through, and then knit rows 1 - 7 again, with the following modification: when you reach the last stitch in row 7, do not knit this stitch, but instead slip it, remove marker, slip stitch back to leading needle, and replace marker (so in effect, you've placed the marker between the two final stitches of row 7). Now it's time to begin the decreases, which we'll work as follows:

Row 1: * ssk, k5, k2tog, p1, ssk, (k1, yo) twice, k1, k2tog, p1 *

Row 2: knit

Row 3: * ssk, k3, k2tog, p1, ssk, (k1, yo) twice, k1, k2tog, p1 *

Row 4: knit

Row 5: * ssk, k1, k2tog, p1, ssk, (k1, yo) twice, k1, k2tog, p1 *

Row 6: knit

Now's the time you'll probably want to switch to your dpns, if you haven't already.

Row 7: * sl1-k2tog-psso, p1, ssk, (k1, yo) twice, k1, k2tog, p1 *

Row 8: * k1, p1, ssk, k3, k2tog, p1 *

Row 9: * k1, p1, ssk, k1, k2tog, p1 *

Row 10: * k1, p1, sl1-k2tog-psso, p1 *

Row 11: * k2tog *

Clip yarn, leaving 18" tail, and use tapestry needle to thread through remaining 12 stitches. Bring tail to inside of hat, knot, and tuck in ends. Finally, if you've looked at my other patterns, you may have noticed that I'm a lazy bastard who hates to block and finish. The nice thing about this pattern is that, if you choose not to block it, the pattern naturally gathers at the arrowhead bits, an effect which creates extra texture and slouch. See, being lazy is awesome!